Could there be a way to have "random/mystery" deals from reputable sources allowed again?

Sep 27, 2013 7:23 PM

A deal was posted by someone else earlier today and subsequently deleted because is was for a random t-shirt. I have seen other similar deals from reputable sources get posted and deleted in the past (thinkgeek & tanga to name a couple).

Maybe it is time to rethink the total ban and figure out a way to have some of these deals posted in the future.

Top Answers

Hey @natedogg828. I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future. It was a hot mess to deal with when we did allow it. We want to be able to help when possible and its hard to interject when you paid for a potential letdown.

The possibility for randomized shirts or items that you know somewhat to expect might come about but for sure not mystery boxes.

@prettywootprincess: I remember the hot mess of a certain dealer of mystery boxes (even go back and read the comments from time to time). I absolutely understand not wanting to include mystery box type deals but randoms of a speciific thing (shirts & hair clips as examples I recently remember seeing) from reputable dealers (by Woot! definitions of course) would be a welcomed change here for many of us

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Hey @natedogg828. I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future. It was a hot mess to deal with when we did allow it. We want to be able to help when possible and its hard to interject when you paid for a potential letdown.

The possibility for randomized shirts or items that you know somewhat to expect might come about but for sure not mystery boxes.

@prettywootprincess: I remember the hot mess of a certain dealer of mystery boxes (even go back and read the comments from time to time). I absolutely understand not wanting to include mystery box type deals but randoms of a speciific thing (shirts & hair clips as examples I recently remember seeing) from reputable dealers (by Woot! definitions of course) would be a welcomed change here for many of us

I was one of the lucky (translation: cynical and distrustful) people who bought one of those long-ago mystery boxes and did a credit-card charge-back at the three-week point. I'm real happy not seeing any more mystery boxes here ever.

On the other hand, I tend to see a random-shirt deal differently. I'd know I was buying a shirt, and the only mystery would be in the artwork.

Personally, I've had really good luck w/a 'mystery' deal. Twice. They were backpacks. Well worth the initial price, and included free shipping. Oh, and they were stuffed w/really neat items, bringing the value to WAY above the cost.

Since woot personnel cannot 'interject' into a deal made w/another company, I do not understand the problem w/listing them. Isn't it true that if you have a bad experience YOU must contact the company you dealt with? The most woot personnel can do is ban that company. (Did not buy, nor have any knowledge of the 'mystery' deal of which others speak.)

@gmwhit: I'm in the same (mystery) boat. I've had some REALLY good luck with a couple of other sites, although their prices are higher than a Woot BOC, and they lack the adventure of the forums. I've had some from other sites that were big disappointments, but I'm not familiar with the BK Industries issue that everyone mentions. A link to the discussion would be nice.

As a few others have mentioned, even if Woot continues to ban regular mystery boxes, the random t-shirts are often a really fun deal and I see no reason to ban those, particularly if the buyer gets to pick the size. Today I posted a random reading glasses deal that seems to be ok, and I've been allowed to post the random t-shirt deals in the past. I have also posted the random wedding dress deals from Jammin' Butter before. Sometimes these are allowed and sometimes not. Curiouser and curiouser.

Please note that you can start almost anywhere in there. Man, that was one serious idiot. It's sad when someone just cannot take responsibility for their actions, and when they can continue to justify their wrong doing in the face of every evidence that what they've done is wrong.

He also had two indiegogo.com funding projects last year trying to raise money (I think he was looking for $75k) to build out an indoor paint-ball course and gaming center in Cedar City, Utah. At the midway point of his campaigns he'd collected a total of about $150.

It's always the same story with Brandon: I'm doing my best but [insert excuse blaming everyone else].

By the way, I also contacted indiegogo with a half dozen links regarding his unreliability; their response was, in essence, "we don't care."

This pretty well sums up Brandon's business ethics (it's from the suunew.com article):

~~~ Mysliewiec said customers are “shooting themselves in the foot” by complaining to [Utah Division of Consumer Protection].

“The more they complain the worse the situation gets with the state, and if the judge feels that it’s just too big of a situation, then he’ll just let the fines go through,” he said. “If the fines go through, I bankrupt the website, which means the customers lose their money, the product, and it still doesn’t affect me.” ~~~

Please, please, please, let's NOT go down that route again. Random deals just aren't worth the mountain of drama they cause, and it's unreasonable to expect Woot to sort the good ones from the bad. Anybody who desperately feels the need to waste their money can use Google to find mystery boxes, mystery T-shirts, mystery expired prescription medicine bottles, or whatever else on their own. Leave the rule in place.

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Sorry

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